November 8, 1981: Pistoiese Lazio 0-1

Simon Basten
1 day ago
5 min read

Pulici in goal and helmet on

A fantastic game from the legendary Lazio keeper and a Viola goal give the Biancocelesti a much-needed away win

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to an immediate promotion to Serie A. A missed penalty in the penultimate match had condemned the Biancocelesti to another year of Serie B.

Lazio had changed ownership and Gian Casoni was the new president. There was not a lot of money so the club was forced to sell a few of their best players, Filippo Citterio and Giuseppe Greco. The transfer window saw the return of scudetto heroes Felice Pulici and Vincenzo D’Amico plus Roberto Badiani. Also signed were Walter Speggiorin, Vincenzo Chiarenza and Claudio Vagheggi. There was a surprise deal with Roma which saw Michele De Nadai and Carlo Perrone swap sides of the Tiber. Manager Ilario Castagner had been confirmed.

Lazio had ambition but the team was not helped by the internal dualism between Luciano Moggi, who had been confirmed as sporting director, and Antonio Sbardella, newly appointed general director. The players were under constant pressure and that did not help.

Lazio, after having been immediately eliminated in Coppa Italia, had not started well in the league either and after the first three games they had just one point. But then things seemed to improve as they won three consecutive matches, but they had then lost both away to Perugia and at home to Catania. They were currently 13th. Not good.

The match: Sunday, November 8, 1981, Stadio Comunale, Pistoia

Ilario Castagner had decided. Felice Pulici, who had arrived only a few weeks earlier, was to play in goal in place of Dario Marigo. The Lazio legend, goalkeeper of the 1973-74 scudetto, was back to help out his club.

It did not take long to call Felice into action. In the 9th minute he made a great save on a Giorgio Rognoni shot and in the 33rd he was saved by the woodwork on an Antonio Capone header. After suffering a massive initial onslaught from Pistoiese, slowly the Tuscans started to put less pressure on the Biancoceleste defence and in the 42nd minute there was a blatant foul on Claudio Vagheggi by Alessandro Zagano which the referee decided to ignore.

In the 52nd minute another marvellous save from Pulici on a Pietro Ghedin header gave the message to the hosts that perhaps to accept a draw was not really that bad after all. So, until the 80th minute they decided to slow down the pace and often passed back to the keeper (you could do that in those days!).

Then with ten minutes to the end of the game there was a free kick on the wing following a foul on Walter Speggiorin. Michele De Nadai crossed into the box, Fabrizio Berni anticipated his goalkeeper who was about to catch the ball, Nando Viola outside the box struck a shot which went under a number of legs and beat Poerio Mascella.

Pistoiese put Lazio under siege for the last part of the game but the Biancoceleste defence erected a wall in front of Pulici and brought back the two points.

Who played for Pistoiese

Mascella, Zagano, Ghedin (84' Lucarelli), Borgo, Berni (84' Fagni), Masi, Torresani, Rognoni, Capone, Piraccini, Desolati

Substitutes: Carraro, Davin, Re

Manager: Toneatto

Who played for Lazio

Pulici, Chiarenza, Badiani, Mastropasqua, Pighin, De Nadai, Viola, Sanguin, Vagheggi, Ferretti (85’ Benini), Speggiorin

Substitutes: Marigo, Mirra, D’Amico, Garlaschelli

Manager: Castagner

Referee: Lanese

Goal: 80’ Viola

What happened next

Lazio were very inconsistent in the first half of the season but after 18 games they were just a couple of points off the promotion zone. But in the next game Lazio crumbled at home against Palermo and Castagner was sacked. He was replaced by the head coach of the Primavera team Renato Clagluna, his first experience with a first team.

The situation did not improve. In the next 17 games Lazio drew 9 times (including 4 consecutive goalless draws) and only won three matches. With two games left to the end of the season, Lazio were just three points clear of relegation. Varese, on the other hand, had had a splendid season and were just one point away from promotion. A very difficult match for Lazio.

The Biancocelesti went 2-0 down but then D’Amico came to the rescue and scored a hat trick to avoid any possible danger of relegation.

In conclusion, a dismal season for Lazio who had started the campionato with high hopes. Chiarenza was the player with most appearances (41) and D’Amico with the most goals (10), with two hat-tricks.

Let’s talk about Sergio Borgo

Sergio Borgo was born on February 2, 1953, in Soncino, near Cremona.

He started his football career with Pro Patria in Serie D and here he met Luciano Re Cecconi and became friends. Cecco suggested his signing and in 1973 he moved to Rome.

That year Lazio won the scudetto and Borgo made one single Serie A appearance in Lazio vs Cesena when he came in for Vincenzo D’Amico 15 minutes from the end. He also played in the last two Coppa Italia games against Juventus and Palermo. Concentrating on the campionato, manager Tommaso Maestrelli preferred to play with the B side in those games. Borgo also played in the Viareggio youth tournament and was voted best player. Lazio were beaten by Fiorentina in the final. Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia were also in that team, coached by Paolo Carosi. Borgo was one of the protagonists however of the Under 23 championship (a new formula for the reserves championship) which the Biancocelesti won, beating Fiorentina 4-0 in the replay final. Lazio had won the first leg but lost the second, so a final game had to be played. Borgo made 21 appearances with 2 goals.

At the end of the season Borgo was loaned out to Foggia in Serie B, but he returned to the capital for the 1975-76 season. Here he made just two appearances and in the summer was sold to Pistoiese. He was one of the protagonists of the remarkable double promotion from Serie C to Serie A. Here he played alongside Mario Frustalupi, one of the heroes of the Lazio scudetto, Mauro Bellugi, who won a scudetto with Inter in 1971 and was part of the Nazionale in the 1978 World Cup, and Marcello Lippi, future Juventus, Inter and Italy manager. He played nine years in Tuscany and became captain.

After this long experience he left and played with Spezia for three years. In his first, the club were promoted to C1. His final two years were with Rondinella and then Pistoiese again

Once he stopped playing, he became a sporting director and worked for Aosta, Spezia, Neftochimic Burgas in Bulgaria, Novara, for whom he was also manager for a brief period, and Derthona. In 2018 he was sporting director for Cuneo but the club went bust.

Borgo was a midfielder and will always be remembered as part of the Lazio 1973-74 scudetto squad, despite having played very little, and winner of the Under 23 championship.